A break in the weather – Kyoto 京都市

Leaving Nagoya and hauling 80 lbs of luggage onto the train, I worried about the rain that had been forecast for Kyoto, but I got lucky. The weather stayed dry. Sort of.

Kyoto is hot. And humid. Steamy, muggy, drippy, swelteringly, oppressively hot and humid. My first day here I wandered around the historic Higashiyama district, swimming in a sea of tourists.

Feeling a little claustrophobic? I wonder how these little fish feel in their tiny bowls.

The gardens of Kyoto are welcoming lush little landscapes that pop into view as you turn a corner.

As day turned to evening, the tourists cleared out and I kept wandering. And wandering.

With this much humidity, plants sprout wherever they can get a toehold.

Outside of the shopping district these narrow, walled pathways offer a bit of quiet stillness, but don’t invite you to linger. By all means, enjoy the scent of gardens in the evening air, but keep going.

Some gardens invite you in through the front door…

… And some out the back.

Some gardens lead to open doors…

… And some lead to closed doors.

Large or small, each garden offers stillness and a feeling of respite from the heat. Fragile and tenacious, they persevere.

THANK YOU‼️
Enjoying a revisit through your wonderful pictures & dialogue. Your photos recapture the memories of how space (the precious little that the island of Japan has is so artfully dealt with. with the multitudes of people & the minimal space – illusions of space like their sand gardens & these beautiful garden respites as you so aptly described allow a bit of visual survival.

I’m sending home boxes of stuff by EMS every few days. Expensive, but everything seems to be getting home safe so far. Plus a lot of what I was carrying the first half of the trip were presents! I have more space now.